Customer Relationships

05/29/2015

In April I spoke at the Sales 2.0 Conference in San Francisco. Here are two of the key thoughts that stuck in my mind after the event.

#1: Put Customers at the Center of Your Sales Efforts

We’ve emphasized this at MHI Global for many years. But, listening to conversations and presentations take place at the event, it struck me that this is the first year that nearly everyone spoke about the importance of helping customers achieve their goals. We've been talking about putting customers at the core of your sales efforts for a long time. In other words, I heard a ringing endorsement for the need to have a sales culture that’s oriented around the customer.

This is a major shift – and I’m in a position to know, because I've attended six or seven Sales 2.0 Conferences since their inception nine years ago. And I’ve been a speaker at three of these events.

As I recall, many of the conversations at those events were focused on us. We talked about:

Sales techniques and selling skills,

how we could close more sales, and

which latest and greatest tech tools we should be using.

We were very “me” focused in those years. And it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to attend a sales conference and discover these topics still dominating the discussion. Yet, at this event, the customer was getting all the attention. I couldn’t be happier about this shift, and I think we should consider calling this movement Sales 2.5 (at least!).

#2: Your Intention Matters

What’s the other interesting thing I learned? I heard from some of the attendees that they felt there was a clear separation between speakers who were there simply to speak, and speakers who were there as fellow members of the sales profession.

In other words, a speaker who shows up to an event to get some stage time and jet off to the next engagement is not truly a member of the community – and people can sense that. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, unless their intention is to make an authentic connection with attendees at a peer level.

Personally, I feel that I am a member of the sales profession, and, as such, I truly wanted to be at the event to listen, learn, and connect. That meant taking time to sit and listen to presentations and chat with fellow attendees in addition to my stage time.

It was a great feeling to hear that validation from attendees. And I should not be so surprised, because I always try to live by the edict of one of our founders, Bob Miller. He used to say that it’s incumbent on us to “be the best examples of what we represent.” I am committed to promoting, enhancing, and developing the profession of sales so we can all live up to our fullest potential.

Recently, I spoke to an audience of sales leaders at the EcSell Institute’s Spring Coaching Summit. My topic, as it has been many times this year, was “The 4 Keys to Selling Value.” My presentation was filled with snafus. My movie clip didn’t play, my slides only showed the graphics but not the bullet points, and I fell off the stage (landed on my feet, but still!). Because of the technical issues (thank you, Office 2016 for Mac Preview – you suck!), my audience was more engaged, and more appreciative, than I could have expected. Thank you, everybody!

The interesting part for me came at the end, when I asked the audience, “How many of you believe that your salespeople are doing a good job selling value?” One hand went up. This despite the fact that exactly none of these companies sell on price. Low price leaders almost never attend conferences like these because they could send chimpanzees out to do their bidding. On the other hand, companies that are attempting to sell value need their salespeople to be effective.

Next, I asked them whether they thought the reason was because of:

Sales processes that don’t support value selling

Sales tactics that aren’t the best choices for value selling

Sales strategies that don’t support value selling

This time, I had a few hands for each choice – but most of the 100 or so hands did not go up.

Why?

They aren’t sure what the real reason or combination of reasons might be.

The problem is that – as ill suited as many salespeople are for selling value – their sales managers and sales leaders are even more unprepared to identify the issues and help. That leaves us with a scenario similar to a drought. If we don’t have enough water, and no relief is in sight, we must begin to make compromises. We can’t water lawns, wash cars, or water flowers.

In selling, lack of understanding around value means we can’t depend on reps to sell value, uphold pricing, and maintain margins. So, when a great opportunity presents itself and the prospect needs better pricing to choose us, we make an exception.

What’s wrong with that?

It violates the first rule of strategy for selling value – no exceptions. When you make an exception, a number of things occur:

You show the prospect or customer that you will drop the price

You show your salespeople that, when push comes to shove, you will drop the price

You get used to using price as a crutch to land deals

You develop a reputation for coming through with the required pricing

It’s one thing to state that you want your salespeople to sell value, but, if you can’t help them become value sellers, you don’t recruit salespeople who have value selling capabilities in their sales DNA, and you make exceptions to the number-one strategy rule of value selling, it’s all a farce. You aren’t really a value provider at all. You’re just like everyone else, and are using price as a crutch.

05/27/2015

Today’s post is by Alison Murdock, VP of Marketing at 6sense. Join 6sense at the INMarket conference in San Francisco on July 8 to learn more about innovations for B2B sales and marketing teams. Register here and use code BLOG for a special 25 percent discount.

If you’ve been paying attention to trends in the B2B sales profession for the past few years, you’ve probably noticed the term “buyer’s journey” slowly overtaking what used to be called “the sales cycle.”

That’s not to say the sales cycle no longer exists. But, since B2B buyers have moved online en masse to research offerings and make purchases, the language of the sales profession has shifted to reflect the fact that buyers have taken control of the sales cycle. Salespeople do not control access to information the way they used to. The buyer is now in the driver’s seat. Thus, we now talk about the buyer’s journey – not the sales cycle.

Has this rendered salespeople irrelevant? Much ink has been spilled debating this idea, and many thought leaders, analysts, and experts have cited a single statistic that originated with SiriusDecisions research: 67 percent of the buyer’s journey is now done digitally. Although SiriusDecisions never explicitly announced that salespeople were becoming obsolete (nor was that their underlying intent), many people misinterpreted their research.

How do I know this? I attended the recent SiriusDecisions Summit, where analysts Jennifer Ross and Marisa Kopec discussed results from the firm’s new survey, which was intended to expand on their original findings and clarify their position. Their research reflected responses from 1,000 B2B executives who had been involved in a significant B2B purchase decision within the previous six months. The data represents an estimated half-billion dollars in B2B purchases across North America and Europe.

I outlined six key takeaways from the survey in a separate post (“Yes, Sales Reps Still Matter to B2B Buyers: 6 Takeaways from #SDSummit 2015”). But one of the most interesting points that I want to highlight for sales leaders is that a single buyer’s journey does not exist. According to Ross and Kopec, there are actually three distinct buying scenarios. Here are the characteristics of each one.

Buying Scenario #1: Committee

phased, hierarchical, and tiered

typically involves a six-month sales cycle

purchase price is greater than $500K

Buying Scenario #2: Consensus

team based or cross functional

purchase cycle takes less than six months

purchase price is anywhere from $50K to $500K

Buying Scenario #3: Independent

does not rely on a committee

deals close in days or weeks

transactional in nature

purchase price is around $50K or less

It’s probably easy to see which category your offering falls into, but the further revelations from Ross and Kopec are what is truly interesting: each buying scenario has implications for whether – and when – you should pursue non-human (digital) interactions, or human-to-human (salespeople) interactions. According to their research, as price increases, human interactions become more important.

The implication is clear. Companies need a mix of digital and human interactions with their buyers, and they need to carefully consider which method they deploy based on their typical buying scenario.

Buyers today leave a rich digital footprint of what they want and need. Sales tools have evolved accordingly. Specifically, predictive intelligence tools can help you predict which customers are highly likely to buy; who is in the buying committee; what products they want and need; and when they are likely to buy. In other words, predictive intelligence tells you which of your prospects are “in market” – whatever their buying stage may be. Are they just beginning their research or leaning in to make a purchase in the next 90 days?

These are some fascinating trends and times for B2B. And we’ll be diving right into those at the upcoming INMarket conference, hosted by 6sense, in San Francisco on July 8. Executives from such companies as Box, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Cisco, Xactly, and Forrester will be speaking. We invite you to join us. Register here and use code BLOG for a special 25 percent discount.

Which buyer’s scenario best fits your offering? Share your thoughts in the comments section or tweet using the hashtag #InMarket15.

What’s the best way for sellers to build relationships and rapport with prospects and customers these days?

Back in the golden era of selling, you’d walk into a client’s office and desperately search for something on their walls or desk to talk about. The goal was to find something that mattered to them and connect on a more personal level. If you weren’t thrown out, you’d quickly leverage one of your tried-and-true relationship weapons – lunch, golf, dinner, a gift, or even the occasional ride on the corporate jet.

Boy, how things have changed! Besides the governance policies that most companies employ today – where accepting even a coffee mug with your logo on it is a violation – admiring the stuffed swordfish on the wall and asking, “What keeps you up at night?” isn’t going to cut it. The old rules of selling simply no longer apply.

The fact is, today’s business relationships – and all relationships, really – are built on value. Executives want to know what’s in it for them before they will consider investing time in you.

Most executives aren’t interested in golf games or idle chatter that leads to you showing them a 100-plus-slide capabilities presentation. Nor do executives want to train you on their company and issues so you can turn around and try to sell them something.

But don’t lose heart. There are potentially many ways you can deliver value. Consider the following four ideas.

Provide thought leadership around how you might help them improve results or attain certain goals.

Help them achieve recognition in their organization or industry for something they are doing or something you can help them do.

Make key connections and introductions for them.

Support events, programs, committees, or charitable/community organizations that are important to them.

The most successful sales professionals understand that individual human beings – not companies – make decisions to buy. Relationship development is an intentional process that requires you to invest time doing careful research before walking through the door to determine the potential value you can offer. Additionally, it requires continued nurturing. You need to continually ask yourself, “what have I done for them lately?”

Most importantly, building successful relationships requires you to take risks and work outside your comfort zone. Instead of “safe” discussions around your products, features, price, and company, you have to be savvy and brave enough to earn the right to have discussions around personal agendas, what they really want, and the personal motivations that are driving them. Only then can you begin to create bonds based on mutual trust, value, and success.

Business relationships today are oftentimes situational and temporary. They exist as long as the other party believes you still deliver value. Keep in mind that business relationships do not necessarily equal friendships. Just because someone “likes” you, doesn’t mean they will buy from you. Sure, everyone knows your name and smiles when you visit, but when was the last time your “friends” actually bought something from you?

The next time you have an important meeting, think of it as a first date. Don’t make the critical error of talking about yourself, your company, or your products. The harsh reality is that no one cares about you until they understand what you can do for them. Do your homework, leave the logoed mug and your capabilities presentation at home, and (whatever you do) don’t ask about the stuffed fish on the wall!

05/13/2015

There is a long-standing belief that salespeople are naturally “hunters” or “farmers,” but what do you do in a mature market where there seems to be little to hunt and no new fertile ground?

The key is finding pockets of profitable, micro growth opportunities to explore. It takes some effort and analytics, but it’s worth it. Companies whose sales forces routinely excel at finding latent demand, among other strategies for sales growth, tend to grow revenue almost 50 percent more than their peers.

Here are three steps you should take to build the insight needed to grow your business with existing customers.

1. “De-average” customer sales trends.

An account’s historical growth rate is useless information. What you need to know is exactly where there could be growth tomorrow, and you need to know it at the micro level. There are two methods I regularly see succeed in all industries, though they are by no means the only ones to try:

First, map tiny territories inside your larger sales territory. For multilocation customers, know in which zip/post codes their business is growing. Measure your share with those customers in those tiny territories, and go after growth where you are underpenetrated (versus your average share across the territory).

Second, keep an eye on each customer’s plants or distribution points. Regularly ask where your customer plans to add capacity or more salespeople, and prioritize your new proposals there.

2. Know the next product to buy.

Sometimes business-to-business sellers are so accustomed to exacting requests for proposals (RFPs) that they don’t prioritize bringing new ideas to customers. Take a page out of the consumer retailer’s handbook. One easy analysis that can come out of any customer relationship management system is the basket of products customers similar to yours are buying. Again, go micro: check to see which individual products or services are missing from your customer’s basket. Outside the RFP process, talk with your customer about new options. It could be a rich source of profitable growth, possibly up to 20 percent.

3. Investigate SKU swaps or repricing.

At an even more micro level, SKU swapping and repricing can lead to 3 to 5 percent improved account profitability. When customers are buying highly specified products, getting them to switch or pay a little more may seem an impossible task – but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. I spend a lot of time in the chemicals industry, where producing to a detailed spec is a basic requirement. There are always a few customers, however, who have been willing to explore switching or have accepted a revised price when sellers present compelling data, such as the following:

Your company is losing money on that specific SKU to that specific customer. If you are consistently unprofitable, that’s clearly not good for you, but it is also not good for your customer who may need security of supply. If another SKU is available with appropriate specifications, see if it’s possible to switch. If not, work to obtain a net price that is fair for both of you, or agree to strip out extra services the customer may not value.

Your customer isn’t buying a SKU that its own customers may value more. Is there a profitable product you have that could provide incremental benefits down the value chain? If so, bring it to your customer’s attention, and calculate for the customer what it could do for his or her profit.

In today’s world of flattening or low average growth rates, salespeople should embrace “hunting on the farm” as the new normal.

05/12/2015

Today's post is by Joanne Black, America’s top referral sales expert. Visit www.nomorecoldcalling.com for more articles, tips, and free resources. You can also find Joanne on Twitter @ReferralSales.

There’s a new myth being circulated in the sales community. According to some “experts,” buyers know everything they need to know about our companies, products, and solutions before they ever speak to sellers.

They suggest that buyers don’t really need salespeople anymore, that the proliferation of information and the automation of sales have made sellers irrelevant. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Salespeople still have a role to play -- an important one. In fact, buyers might just need us now more than ever.

Computers Cannot Replace Me

Word-class salespeople know and care about their clients. We understand their most pressing business issues and greatest challenges. We know about developments in their industry and competitive landscape. We know what works and what doesn’t.

Buyers don’t need just information. They need help uncovering the best solutions to strengthen their business, and this is help comes, not from a “Click Here” link, but from an experienced salesperson who knows how to ask the right questions.

The Personal Touch Means More Than Ever

The more technology-driven this world gets, the more we appreciate the personal touch: real recognition, in-person communication, and actually getting to work with people. As John Naisbitt writes in High Tech/High Touch: Technology and Our Search for Meaning, “The more high tech, the more high touch we desire.”

Yes, there are certain things we’d rather do for ourselves online, but at the end of the day, we also want to do business with people. For example, when you travel by airplane, you no longer need a person to provide you with a flight schedule, sell you a ticket, or issue your boarding pass. Once you board that plane, however, I bet you want a flight attendant to greet you and serve refreshments, and you sure as heck want a human pilot in the cockpit.

It’s the same in sales: many customers would rather get information online, but when they have questions, they want quick, thoughtful responses from real, live, experienced salespeople. Before they’re going to sign on any dotted lines, they want to know they’re working with people they can trust. These types of connections are built through referral introductions and in-person communication, not through social networking.

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

For the record, I am not technophobic, a Luddite, or afraid of change. As our world and culture change, so will sales –- and that’s OK. What doesn’t change is that our community is made up of people, and people need interaction. So step up and make a difference in your buyers’ lives and businesses. Help them succeed by being a top-notch, high-touch sales professional. Be a resource, a cheerleader, and a sounding board. Be part of the solution.

04/28/2015

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that sales professionals and customers are more “connected” than ever before.

To prepare for the future of selling, we must contend with the fact that we have access to exponentially more information than we had just a decade ago. Companies are investing billions of dollars in sales technologies, such as customer relationship and sales force management systems (CRM and SFA, respectively), to increase the sales team’s insight on customer and prospect demographics and behavior; however, organizations are not realizing a return in sales performance improvement. In fact, just the opposite is true.

According to Accenture’s latest report, “Powering Profitable Sales Growth – Five Imperatives,” the number of representatives achieving their sales goals has declined from 67 percent in 2013 to 50 percent in 2014 (even with sales quotas generally lower in 2014 than in 2013), and revenue target achievement is down by more than 5 percent.

How is it possible that, in the face of this new insight and our extraordinary investment in performance technology, global sales performance is dropping? Because information does not ensure understanding, insight does not equal connection, and CRM is not a customer relationship.

It is time to consider that we have become overly dependent on technology and perhaps unrealistic in our expectations of its role in our sales performance. The result is an overly complicated, multitasking sales environment with a higher focus on technology and less on customer diagnostics, engagement, and experience. Neglecting the customer relationship undermines the influence and collaboration essential to a productive sales process.

In a recent Harvard Business Review article, “The Subtle Ways Our Screens Are Pushing Us Apart,” Dr. Karen Sobel-Lojeski introduces the phrase “virtual distance” to explain the dynamic of substituting screen intelligence for human connection. She writes, “Virtual distance is a sense of psychological and emotional detachment that begins to grow little by little and unconsciously when most encounters and experiences are mediated by screens on smart devices.”

Keyboard-tapping sales professionals who dive deep into data without proportional customer engagement and exploratory conversations will lack context that reveals who their customers are, their attitudes, and their motivations. Sobel-Lojeski observes:

…today’s workforce has more than enough tools to send information back and forth to people all over the world. But those tools – and the use of them – do not necessarily constitute collaboration… Genuine collaboration is achieved through ongoing meaningful exchanges between people who share a passion and respect for one another… Ultimately, new innovations and critical problem solving are realized through relationships.

The impact of technological improvements is dramatic and profound; at this juncture, not having the insight provided by CRM/SFA tools would put any sales organization at a perilous disadvantage. The key understanding, however, is that sales technology is not a substitute for the foundational role of the sales professional.

Technology cannot develop customer relationships nor interpret data to identify the strongest business-development opportunities and most valuable insight and solutions for customers. Savvy sales leaders will view sales technologies as tools to facilitate customer engagement, not as a substitute for customer engagement.

04/22/2015

In sports and sales, it pays to start the game strong. That’s why we practice and build game plans – so we can command an early lead and build momentum to an eventual win.

When the salesperson starts a sales cycle strong, the probability of winning is greater than 50 percent. Customer engagement early in the sales cycle defines the top performers and separates them from average salespeople.

Most salespeople can effectively manage the later stages in the sale and close in a reasonable amount of time. The top performers understand the importance of early-stage customer engagement and do this instinctively. They’re not following a company sales process. They’re immersing themselves in the buyer’s journey.

Poor customer engagement occurs when prospects believe salespeople add little value and therefore are not worth engaging. Today, customers also prefer to educate themselves, which they can do readily given the widespread availability of information and resources online about companies, products, and services.

To improve customer engagement across the entire buyer’s journey, we need to think beyond our standard attempts to improve in the areas of sales training, hiring, or sales methodology. We need a new and disruptive approach to sales and customer engagement that allows sales reps to consistently perform as consultative, trusted advisors.

First, we need to embrace the fact that customers educate themselves. Smart Rooms by Journey Sales (referred to as the Sales Office in the Cloud) is an innovative solution that allows the customer to self-educate while providing the sales team a platform to engage. Salespeople can rely on the Smart Room to deliver the messaging and insight, allowing the salespeople to focus on two critical sales skills:

Agile Selling: In Smart Rooms, salespeople can read the digital body language of the customer. Instead of guessing, we listen and adjust the Customer Smart Room and Sales Strategy.

Collaborate Selling: It’s rare today that purchase decisions are made by one person. Typically buyers collaborate as a team to review products and evaluate value. Smart Rooms provide the perfect experience for salespeople to become part of that collaboration.

Many salespeople are passionate about improving their selling skills. The problem is, they’re stuck with old sales techniques and tools. The difference between good and great is your game plan. Salespeople need the ability to start the engagement strong and maintain that momentum throughout the buyer’s journey. This skill can be developed with the help of Smart Rooms.

01/20/2015

Today's guest post is by Jennifer Stanley, Associate Principle (Marketing and Sales Practice) at McKinsey & Company. Hear her speak at the Sales 2.0 Conference in Philadelphia on March 16.

What kind of relationship will you have with purchasing agents in 2020?

Consider this: by that time, Millennials will be 50 percent of the workforce. That means the people you’re selling to will likely have different styles, preferences, and habits from your current buyers. But this generation is already in the workforce and having a massive impact on how people do business. This development is one of the critical megatrends shaping sales today.

Millennials have grown up in an era of easy access to just about any type of information and a greater willingness to share their personal information with strangers. To cater to this type of buyer, it’s important to be proactive. They expect you to research them and their business before you meet or make contact. Existing buyers expect you to keep up with the evolving landscape of personal and corporate information that is available 24/7. They want you to really understand how your solution will help them personally succeed in achieving their individual goals, as well as their procurement-department objectives.

To better connect with the Millennial buyer, there are four actions you should take now if you haven't already.

1 Get social.

Millennials are omnipresent on digital platforms and expect others to be, too. Your customers and prospects are regularly viewing your company’s (and your) presence on various platforms – LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs, etc. According to our research, 75 percent of Millennials use social networking as a primary communication tool versus 30 percent of baby boomers and 50 percent of Generation Xers.

If you aren’t proficient in social selling, you need to start now. That means improving your professional presence on social media. More importantly, start tuning in to and tracking appropriate conversations about relevant topics and your target procurement officers on social media.

2 Help the buyer shine.

Think about at least three ways you're going to help this person win. Don't stop with understanding what his or her department objective is for the year, i.e., the typical saving a set percentage off of last year’s procurement spend. Help this person achieve his or her own goals. Can your solution contribute to a promotion? Can you introduce your customer to a new professional or social network?

3 Cut your standard pitch by 70 percent.

Better yet, get rid of all paper and put your pitch in an app, a video, or some form of interactive digital material. Our 2012 B2B Customer Survey indicated that at least 35 percent of prepurchase activities happen on digital channels.

Creating that digital experience for the customer is critical to standing out in a positive light. Clearly there will be customer-specific requirements for RFPs (the typical Excel spreadsheet requesting cost decomposition comes to mind), but look for ways to be relevant and helpful to your audience. For example, you could embed links in the spreadsheet that take a buyer to more detailed information housed on a dedicated, tailored Website.

4 Be a connector.

Despite what can sometimes feel like an “us versus them” world, the procurement officer is looking for mutually advantageous relationships. Your responsibility is to help this person cultivate those relationships with your company.

One way is to link procurement officers to relevant video content from leading industry thinkers or other customers. Purchasers may further share that information, expanding the reach of your message.

Ignoring these ways to meet the needs of Millennial purchasers puts you at risk of being hopelessly out of touch and hopelessly out of the deal.

12/29/2014

Your first meeting with an executive defines you and your company. You get one chance to make your pitch. It will either set you on a path toward mutual benefit and profitability or lead you to unanswered phone calls and being pushed lower in the organization -- or even out the door.

Making your first meetings with executives productive and engaging is one of the most important things you can do to dramatically improve your sales. So how do you meet their great expectations and ensure you’re providing a valuable encounter every time?

What Executives Don’t Want to Hear

Perhaps it’s easier to start with a couple of specific examples of what executives in today’s marketplace don’t want from salespeople:

They don’t want to be asked questions that they believe you should have known the answers to before you set up a meeting with them.

They don’t want to invest their valuable time in educating you on their business.

When either of these expectations is violated, the salesperson is instantly devalued by the executive and in danger of being dismissed.

Given the amount of information readily available today, these executive expectations are reasonable. Sadly, old habits often die hard. Salespeople are still apt to drone on with their pet list of questions that always seemed to work for them in the past.

I’m not advocating that you stop asking questions. Rather, I suggest using a different type of question, which you may find more difficult to formulate; it is harder to ask the right question than to find answers to the wrong questions.

How to Approach Meetings with Busy Executives

Executives are busy, but they always have time for a value-rich discussion that takes their mind to new places and reveals new ideas that could enhance the success of their organization. But just as executives don’t want us to go to on school them, we don’t want them to go to school on us. There has to be a fair exchange of value in which neither party feels taken advantage of.

The best approach is to set up a value exchange with consultative discussion through the implementation of high-gain questions. Simply stated, a high-gain question is an approach through which a sales professional gives before he or she takes. It is a way of asking a question that provides new value to the executive first but then closes with an open-ended question, enabling the executive to give value in return. These open-ended questions, due to their enlightening or compelling content, create the experience of thought leadership.

Here’s an example of a traditional open-ended question:

“Given the current economic forecast, it appears that the economy will not be growing at a pace that will be helpful in making your own accelerated growth rate. Given that gap, how is your organization going to compensate and offset the predicted slow economic growth?”

Now let’s take that same question and turn it into a high-gain question (notice the “give” before the “take”):

“Given the current economic forecast, it appears that the economy will not be growing at a pace that will be helpful in making your own accelerated growth rate. Given that gap, we have researched what different organizations in your industry are doing under these adverse economic conditions. Some have announced cutbacks in their expenses and the cancellations of any acquisitions and new market expansions. We have also found one that has decided to capitalize on the economic situation by getting funding to accelerate its activities to steal market share during these tough economic times while others are vulnerable. In studying these two very different approaches, we feel the second approach appears to be the wisest move for the following reasons. [Share reasons here, and ask the open-ended question after.] How has your organization decided to operate during these difficult times?”

When a high-gain question is asked, the customer’s thinking patterns are disrupted and become open to new ideas and different conclusions. This allows for an unusual, new conversation that the customer has not had with your competitors. Both parties walk away from the conversation a bit smarter and with mutual respect.

This type of discussion is seen as time well spent and results in both parties wanting future discussions. These future discussions will continue as long as each one is a fair and balanced value exchange. The formulation and planning of these questions will further your engagement with the customer in a business-advisor relationship, and it is the basis of long-term relationships in this busy, fast-paced world in which we all must do business today.